Fayoumi

Breed Rating (4 Reviews)

History

The Fayoumi is a truly ancient breed and has been raised along the River Nile in Egypt for centuries.
They were bred for egg production and are incredibly resistant to disease giving them the reputation of being virtually indestructible by bacteria or virus.
They are fairly small chickens with tails held high and large dark eyes. They have a single medium comb, red earlobes and slate blue legs.
The male has silver neck and saddle hackles with silver and black barring all over the body and a green black tail in the more common silver
pencilled variety. Females also have silver neck feathering and a very darkly barred tail.
The plumage is similar to that of the Campine.

Behaviour

Fayoumis do not like being handled at all and will become very vocal when picked up.
They can be tamed to a degree with treats but will never be fully tame. They are lively birds and are very flighty
so care needs to be taken with boundary fencing as they love to roost in trees. They are happiest free ranging because
they are excellent foragers. Their foraging skills are so well honed that they need very little feed to survive so are a
very economical breed. They are very hardy birds and although bossy, they are not particularly aggressive and males are tolerant of each other.
The hens rarely go broody so incubation is required for egg hatching. The chicks are born red brown and are fast to mature.
Cocks actually start crowing at 6 weeks of age while the hens will come into lay at 16 weeks. Cocks weigh 4lbs and hens 3lbs.

Sorry, there are currently no Fayoumi listed for Sale

Latest Reviews For Fayoumi (4 of 4)

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wonderful ancient breed
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,
21 January 2013

Wonderful characters
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Susanne,
20 May 2011

We have two hens, the gold pencilled one is our dominant bird and crows just like a cockrel every morning and whenever she thinks a treat should be due (such as when she has laid an egg). She also clucks very loudly whenever she wants to warn "her" flock of a Lavender Pekin, silver pencilled Fayoumi and Welsumer bantam.
They have a very large, wild garden with lots of insects (and unfortunately have learned to stand in the shallow end of our pond and hunt tadpoles and later chase froglets and slowworms if I don't catch them first!) They lay a small white egg every day and rarely miss a day, have incredibly good survival skills and squawk alarmingly if you pick them up when they don't want to be handled. Unlike the other two they don't mind sharing a nestbox while laying.
They are very curious and brave birds: they will come and investigate in the house if the door is open, even though they get shooed out noisily each time. Difficult to catch unless you grab them while they are roosting but will allow themselves to be caught if the treat is worth it (live or dried mealworms, sweetcorn or grapes will always do the trick. They are stand-offish but never agressive, but the dominant hen demands respect from her flock and will chase wild birds, squirrels and even rats away from the feeder!

Flighty But a Hoot & Great Eggs
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Jan,
26 November 2010

I fell in love with the look of my Silver Fayoumi, the minute I set eyes on her. Fantastic shape, lovely tail, gorgeous colourway. And, yes, she is flighty & nervous, not at all happy about being handled. But........ she has a lovely nature, gets on really well with my other birds (bonds very closely with the dominant bird & then more or less stalks him / her!!), rarely goes broody & is not in any way aggressive, when she is, plus she is my best layer, even outstripping my Barnvelder. Her eggs are white, medium sized & have the best taste, too - really rich yolks, big for the amount of white. She's bright, inquisitive & always the first to be out & about. Great little character.

Beautiful but skittish
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Cheryl,
23 September 2010

These are very beautiful birds and very hardy, but not for someone who enjoys handling their birds, they are not for beginners, and are quite flighty, if you had to administer any medication it would be a hard task..